Free Republic

Tragedy has struck one of the hopeful new companies trying to invent the future of aviation. On Monday an Icon A5 crashed next to Lake Berryessa in northern California. The disaster killed Icon lead engineer Jon Karkow and his colleague, Cagri Sever. We don't yet know the cause of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating that. CEO Kirk Hawkins published the following statement on the company's Facebook page. I flew in an A5 two years ago when Icon brought the aircraft to New York for media test rides on the Hudson River. It is a gorgeous...

A staffer who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server while she was secretary of State is expected to plead the Fifth rather than testify before Congress. Lawyers for Bryan Pagliano indicated the former IT employee will assert his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment not to answer questions from the House Select Committee on Benghazi, citing the "current political environment." Pagliano is scheduled to appear before the House Benghazi Committee on Sept. 10. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the panel, said in a statement that the panel's investigation of Clinton’s private email server while at State...

After two years of watching how‭ ‬one man‭ ‬presides over the‭ ‬Arizona State Senate,‭ ‬I can no longer withhold my opinion:‭ ‬Andy Biggs lacks the courage of his convictions.‭ ‬I refer specifically to his obstruction of Article V legislation that would add Arizona to the growing list of states applying to Congress for a‭ ‬convention to propose amendments to the Constitution.‭ ‬He‭ ‬claims to‭ ‬fear that state legislators‭ ‬– such as himself and‭ ‬89‭ ‬of his closest colleagues‭ ‬-‭ ‬would lose control of the agenda,‭ ‬risking a re-write of‭ ‬the‭ ‬entire Constitution,‭ ‬despite copious‭ ‬and credible‭ ‬evidence‭ ‬dispelling‭ ‬such concerns...

Both Article V bills, HB2305 and SCR1016, passed through all committee hurdles, and passed floor votes in the House, the latter doing so twice. But they died an inglorious procedural death in the senate because that chamber’s president, Andy Biggs, exercised his pocket veto power and refused to allow either bill to come to the floor for a final vote, despite considerable pressure brought by sponsors and supporters. Yesterday, the legislature adjourned for the year. So, we lost. Most are quietly licking their wounds, trying to rationalize the irrational. And some are asking some pretty hard questions. Unfortunately, right now,...